Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Michael Ben Zikri is a hero whose memory deserves to be immortalized. A year and a half ago, at Zikim Lake, he rescued a mother and her three children from drowning. Again and again Michael entered the water to save lives until he himself drowned. In recent days, a park in Ashkelon was dedicated to his memory. Meitar Ben Zikri, his daughter, delivered the following remarks at the ceremony:
"Everything in life is a matter of choice. To get up in the morning and go to work or stay in bed is a choice. To light a cigarette with a cup of coffee or, instead, go to work out is a choice. There are also choices made automatically, such as brushing your teeth. It sounds weird to call something a choice when it becomes a habit, but all these habits come from making certain small choices, often quickly, and implementing them. But there are also habits that take much time and thought such as buying a car or renting an apartment.
My father did not have a lot of time to think, but he still made a choice. He chose to enter the water to save a child, he chose to enter the water again to save another child, and chose a third time to do the same. These were choices that came from my father's natural instincts, based on his principles and values, his love and sense of responsibility for others.
Who am I that I should choose to look at a glass as half-empty? Yes, it's easier to look at a glass as half-empty, more attractive to be a victim of circumstances and to become addicted to sadness, even if no one tells you that sadness is addictive. This is not to say that it's forbidden to be sad and in pain, but I choose to look at the glass as half-full and to continue where he left off in order that he will be proud of me from up there just as I am proud of him, right now, down here.
And if all those who hear this story will choose to look at their choices in life from the perspective of the glass being half-full, and to carry on despite adversity, perhaps we will have a world that's a little bit better."
